Kumho Tire Co., South Korea's second-largest tiremaker, said Wednesday it has become the official sponsor of the National Basketball Association.

The company said Kumho will sponsor both the NBA and the NBA Development League until 2016, as part of efforts to expand its sports marketing and raise brand awareness among consumers.

"In the past, other tire companies set up sponsorship arrangements with individual basketball teams, but Kumho is the first to do so with the governing basketball association," a company representative said. The company had sponsored deals with NBA teams like Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat in the past.

It is also the first time that the South Korean company has signed a partnership agreement with a professional U.S. sports league.

Kumho said data have shown there is an average 20,000 spectators at any given NBA game, with countless others watching on TV. It said the number of viewers can reach as high as 26 million for the champion title game.

Besides being able to display its logo on the court and scoreboards, Kumho said it wants to show its logo on network TV broadcasters such as TNT, ESPN, ABC and NBC during NBA basketball games. (Yonhap)